{Weekend Edition} The Easter One

It's April 1st and I am so excited for a new month and a fresh start! There is something so exciting about looking at the calendar and seeing the 1st. It is also April Fools Day! I personally am a fan of pranks and have been known to pull several in my younger years -- the best prank ever pulled on me was in my senior year of college my SUV was saran wrapped. It was definitely a sight to see. Are you a pranker or tend to stay away from all of that funny business?

My weekend started a little earlier this week - but no complaints here! I took a half day in Friday and went out to lunch with a friend and then we proceeded to go and get mani & pedis!

Amanda Sue & I went to Good Earth And celebrated Amanda's birthday with a slice of their famous carrot cake - delish! Later before church we met up with our friend Lynnae before heading to our churches' Good Friday service.

{Pedi // Lynnae + I}

{Amanda, me + Lynnae}

Saturday was a wonderful relaxing day as I met up with an old co-worker for coffee + laughs (many of them!). Sunday was a wonderful day - a bit dreary and over cast in the great state of Minnesota but still a celebration with Christ defeating the grave!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a great Easter! I am determined to enjoy Monday & embrace April! 

From One Year to the Next

It's my birthday! 

I absolutely hands down love my birthday. I'm 28 {gasp that's new!} and I still {and hopefully always will} love my birthday. New Years and looking back at the calendar year is fun but there is something even more special to reflect on the past year of your own personal 'New Years'.

{27} You have been so fun and yet so unexpected. It amazes me how far I have come and what I have learned in the past year. There have been many new experiences and adventures, there have been heart aches, and milestones, mountaintops and valleys and I would not trade any of it.

The many adventures and life moments at 27:

; joined weight watchers ; Visited Voyaguers National Park  ; celebrated a year at the new job  ; saw Canada for the 1st time  ; discovered a new way of eating  ; gave my 3rd MOH speech  ; lost 25 lbs  ; went to my first double feature  ; became a 'words with friends' board for halloween ; took a boat cruise on the Mississippi ; became slightly obsessed with nail polish  

; fell in love with pintrest ; hopped on the twitter bandwagon ; started teaching preschool twice a month at church ; worked on adding more margin to my life ; received pedicure #1 & #2 

; first manicure ever ; started coordinating weddings at church ; 

God has amazed me and taught me so much and yet there is still so much to learn and experience and live. As I look at 28 I too wonder what that will hold, whatever it holds I know that I am ready for it with God, my family & friends by my side.


Let the adventure begin. 

Wisconsin

What an amazing weekend it was! I'm not sure if I even have a highlight - each day was wonderful. 

My family & I spent the day up at the lake - it was gorgeous. We lounged around outside in the heat, played with tykes, went on rides around the lake, caught some fish (well dad did) and genuinely enjoyed each other. 

That time I celebrated all week long

{27 all week long}

I started off celebrating with my grandparents. 

They are so generous and share their wedding anniversary with my birthday - and I love it. 

We went to a German restaurant for supper, it was so much fun.

My grandparents

Aren't they cute?

I typically celebrate with lots of different friends - this year? I mixed all the friends groups. 

Let me tell ya it was amazing! 

Part of my small group girls. I love this group so much - words can not tell. 

This picture also happens to include 1 of my future roomies {excitement}

Bestie

We go back all the way to high school, I also was honored to stand up with her on 

the most important day of her life. 

Curly Locks & sister Gracie

I love these two people. Curly Locks get's me so well - I love her

Gracie - we have the same style, taste & love for pretty much everything. 

Gracie also puts some youth back in these ol'bones.

27 candles... let me tell you.. I wasn't able to blow out ALL of the candles - 27 is a whole lot of candle

I truly made my birthday a week long celebration

Let me tell you it was wonderful

I am so thankful for all of my friends & family that I was able to spend time with. 

I was also so blessed by my friends & family far away who took the time to text, call, facebook {<3 social media},  and shower me with cards & prezzies. 

If my week long birthday celebration was any indication 27 will be an amazing year. 

Bowling Shoes, Friend Dates & Fathers Day

This weekend was utterly wonderful!

{Friend Date}

Friday I went on a date with my wonderful friend the future Mrs. Bars. Mrs. Bars & I use to live together in a cozy little apartment with our other roommate Diana. Mrs. Bars & I walked around and window shopped stopping to 'ohh' & 'awww' over the appropriate items. We walked through Anthropologie - wow do I love that store, so many treasures to find.

We decided to hit Buca for supper, that food is to die for, seriously, so good. We were celebrating Mrs. Bars birthday coming up and just catching up in general, enjoy friendship & tasty food. 

{A Wedding}

Saturday I went to a wedding of a friend from the college years. The wedding was beautiful. Curly Locks was actually a maid in the wedding. Gretchen, the bride looked gorgeous! I did not really know the groom much before the wedding but it was fun to see through out the reception how much they were ment for each other & how they complimented each other so much. 

The reception was at a bowling alley, before supper began we got in a round of bowling. It was quite comically walking around and seeing guests dressed in dresses, nice pants & ties with bowling shoes on their feet. And the dancing, oh the dancing. Curly Locks & I hung out with a few friends from college so we all had a blast on the dance floor and the DJ was terrific playing great music, no slow songs - it was wonderful!

We actually wore our bowling shoes (with socks) for quite some time because they were much more comfortable than our heels. 

{Father's Day}

We spent the day with my grandparents and aunts & uncles for Fathers Day. We grilled out and had a wonderful time. This picture is from a year ago but I still love it. Happy Fathers Day dad! Thanks for always being there for me! Love you!

Easter

Easter was beautiful.

My stargazer lily finally bloomed, just in time for Easter

Cousin honey bee with grandma's shoes. It definitely makes the outfit. 

Easter basket cupcakes. A tradition every year. 

A Story for the Ages

Today while helping my Grandma pack up her china she told me a story about running across her old date book {or dance card if you would}. The exact words out of her mouth:

"I dated three boys at one time." 

And then she meet Grandpa and was happy with just him :)

Thanksgiving in Rewind

Thanksgiving was wonderful. Grandma always outdoes herself. 

This year I tried my hand at a new recipe, Nantucket Cranberry Pie. 

It was a HUGE hit, tasty tasty. And of course Thanksgiving would not be complete without a homemade apple pie. 

Bumble Bees & Birthday Candles

WELCOME to the PARTY!

This past weekend my family celebrated two special birthdays my grandma's eightieth and my cousin honey bees first birthday. My aunt & uncle were gracious enough to host us all in the country. The day unfortunately was a bit rainy, but we all stayed pretty dry, for the most part.

The women of honor

The wonderful salads and fruit provided by family to go along with grilled burgers

Yellow Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Chocolate Mousse Filling

White Cake with Strawberry Filling (CHUNKS of Strawberries too) and Vanilla Buttercream

The Smash Cake

The day was a great hit. Since it rained and ended up being a bit cold we weren't able to go for pontoon rides on the lake and it was a bit to chilly for me to enjoy a snow cone. That's right my aunt rented a snow cone machine!